If Quentin Tarantino were a politician, there would be no ifs, ands, or buts about it; he would be the unequaled king of sound bites. There is, simply put, no single director or writer that in my opinion has the ability to write, or direct a more memorable short sequence in movies. I would go so far as to say, it is possible that there has never been anyone more skilled at creating short memorable scenes than Quentin Tarantino. Unfortunately, while those types of things make memorable movie scenes, while they make lasting memories, and incredible movie trailers, they don't necessarily make great movies, and for many, that has been one of the criticisms of Mr. Tarantino. Of course many of those have never sat through a full-length Tarantino movie, and those who go expecting nothing but blood, gore, in-your-face language and shocking reality have missed out on an incredible talent Tarantino has: how to tell a memorable story.

Inglourious Basterds is a story that takes place in World War II France. In the opening sequences we see the German SS troops come upon a small country dairy farm where a father is questioned about harboring Jews. It doesn't take long before we see the father give in and the Nazi "Jew Finder," Colonel Hans, played with evil delight by Christoph Waltz, shows that he is not a man to be trusted.

One of the young Jewish girls hiding underneath the floorboards, Shosanna Dreyfus, escapes and we later see her in the picture as a theater owner.

Tarantino, using an unusual style in having various acts, or stages in the movie, goes next to a sequence featuring The Inglourious Basterds commanded by Lt. Aldo Raine, played brilliantly by Brad Pitt. Let me make clear here, this role for Pitt, while not as long as I would have thought from the advance trailers of the movie, is by far my favorite character for Pitt. He plays, in an absolutely terrifying comedic way, the role of Tennessee native Aldo Raine. He has one goal, one purpose, to kill Nazis. In the process he wants 100 scalps from each of the men under his command, and he does mean real scalps; and for those very, very few, who live, he wants to make sure he and his men leave a lasting impression to let the whole world know they once served for the SS in the Nazi regime.

Eventually, while the characters portrayed in the two primary roles never meet, they do by happenstance have the same goals, which ultimately result in them taking part in some history-changing movie magic. In the process, the viewer is taken through an almost operatic telling of not only part history, but part what-if. In other words, we have an impression of the brilliantly, twisted mind of Quentin Tarantino telling us what could have been if these characters and events had lived in the way he presents. It is what makes movies magical, and it is one of the things that make Tarantino brilliant.

Now before this gets to sounding like a Quentin Tarantino man-crush, let me make clear a few things. While I have the utmost respect for Tarantino, while I enjoyed this movie, while I got caught up in the hype, I have to say this isn't my favorite Tarantino film as many have hyped. In fact I don't even know if this is among the top three or four.

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